Monday, May 13, 2013

Sleeping With a Stranger & More...

When I left off in yesterday's Life with Lynnie (LwL) entry, getting caught up in filling in details from when I was in hospital, I had just found out that I had tested positive for MRSA. A staph infection. One that I probably picked up in the operating room, during my surgery last September.

Yes, I was fortunate. Apparently, it was contained to my wound area in my gut and not on my skin, nor airborne in nature.

Even though I was not 'contagious', the hospital still had to follow protocol. I had to be isolated.

As I mentioned, I had been told that I was to be moved to a private room. This didn't happen on that Saturday morning of May 11th.

When I was wheeled into the room, there weren't curtains enveloping the area of where my bed was to be parked. And, the elderly woman who was occupying the room wasn't in her bed.

Instead, she was seated in a chair, outside the curtained area. And, coughed periodically.

Eventually, a woman showed up and installed enough curtains to complete the enclosure of my bed.

Later, her son told me that he and his sister had been taking turns staying overnight with their mom. He claimed she couldn't speak English.

When his sister arrived at the hospital, I felt like I was happy that it was she staying in the room, and not him. But, I was wrong. Apparently, she couldn't stay long. He was going to stay in the room overnight.

I spoke with my nurse, letting her know that I didn't feel comfortable with the idea of a stranger, a man, sleeping in my room, with me. After all, males and females do not usually share rooms in hospitals. And, he wasn't a patient.

My nurse and another nurse spoke with him in the hallway. He was upset that I didn't feel comfortable with the idea of sharing my room with a man I didn't know.

I felt it was sinful, especially since God's Word, the Bible tells us that the appearance of evil is as bad as the evil itself. And, here I was, being forced to share my hospital room with a man. A stranger.

The nurses came and spoke with me, saying that they felt it would be okay, since he was staying because his mom couldn't speak English. I didn't agree. And, wondered why people generally bend the rules for Middle Eastern people.

Besides, I knew he was lying. I had heard his mom talking to the nurses, when he had stepped out, earlier.

It was suggested to me, that they have me sleep in the hallway, if I wasn't comfortable with sharing my room with a man I didn't know.

I took a deep breath and asked them if I was supposed to be isolated, or not. After all, if I was to be isolated, why would they want me to sleep in the hallway? And, I suggested that if anyone should sleep in the hallway, it should be this stranger, who was not a patient.

They told me he wouldn't be staying, after all.

This wasn't the truth. I kept waiting for this man to leave, but he didn't.

I laid awake half the night. Until, I heard him snoring. Then, I felt maybe I might fall asleep.

As I was drifting off, his mom began to cough. Cough? I have never heard anyone cough like that. She coughed so hard, I thought she would die.

Several nurses came to her side, to assist her. Eventually, her breathing became under control, once again.

I asked my nurse what the woman had. Like I said, I had never heard anyone cough like this. She told me that due to the privacy act, they couldn't tell me.

I asked her name. Again, I was told that they couldn't tell me, due to the privacy act.

Believe me, when I say I was upset. After all, when they moved me in that room, I was under the impression that the elderly woman had to be protected from me.

After the coughing issue she had, I knew that she was the contagious person. Not me. In reality, I was the person in danger. Yet, they had not told me that she was contagious.

I let my nurse know I wasn't happy. After all, I had been sick for more than eight (8) months, and had only found out hours before that I had MRSA. MRSA... a staph infection that is usually picked up in an operating room.

And, I let her know that I already had a reduced immune system, due to the fact that I have Ankylosing Spondylitis (AS), a rare Rheumatoid Arthritic condition, an auto-immune disease. I felt like, how dare they put someone like me at risk from someone like the elderly woman, lying next to me!

And, have to put up with a non-patient, stranger... a man, sleep in my room!

Then, the young nurse commented to me that if I were truly ill, they would allow me to have my husband stay with me, or my child. Hearing this, I commented that wasn't true.

My nurse insisted it was true.

I lost it. I actually called her a liar.

And, I let her know that my husband, Gordon... had died in that very hospital.

He had been in the intensive care unit (ICU). The hospital wanted me to give them permission to remove him from life support, because even though his vital signs were improving and he was stabilizing, they didn't want him to wake up.

They weren't like me, trusting that God would have him wake up healthy. Instead, they were convinced that he would wake up a vegetable, and if he did, it would be too late to let him die.

When I refused to contribute to Gordon's death, those in control actually began locking me out of the area. Even on the day they told me the decision was no longer mine, that they were going to pull the plug on his life, they locked me out of the area and hadn't allowed me to spend much time with him.

Yes, this is true. I sat waiting for hours, for them to allow me to be with Gordon.

Eventually, I walked into the ICU unit when another family entered. I approached Gordon's bed and nurse, and told her that she was not going to force me to leave, commenting that how would she like it if her husband was about to have his life ended, and she not allowed to spend time with him. Her reply to me was that I should get used to being without him.

And, here I was being lied to!!

Forgive me for losing it. Forgive me for writing such a lengthy entry. Forgive me, for feeling like we live in such an evil world, that there truly isn't much love.

A fitting Bible verse came to mind. Micah 2:1, "Woe to them that devise iniquity, and work evil upon their beds! when the morning is light, they practise it, because it is in the power of their hand."

But, I believe it's true. We live in a sinful world, where there isn't much love.

After all, we live in a world that is Satan's domain. He is the father of this world, of sinful people.